Hamas Warns Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas it Will Not 'Provide Cover' if Election Delayed
Ahead of expectations that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party will seek on Thursday to delay the country's upcoming election, the Islamic militant group Hamas voiced its disapproval, saying it will not be party to a postponement.
The group, which is expected to perform well in the May 22 parliamentary elections, said in a statement that voting is a "fundamental national right" and appeared to warn Abbas that it will not "provide cover" in the event of a delay or cancellation.
Abbas cited a dispute with Israel over voting in Jerusalem, but Hamas rejected the idea that Palestine needs Israel's permission. The elections are Palestine's first in 15 years and offer an opportunity for Palestinians to elect new leadership, potentially changing directions in a long struggle for independence.
The Fatah party said that without Israel giving permission for east Jerusalem residents to vote, the elections cannot take place. The opposition has demanded workaround solutions like using schools or religious sites to establish ballot boxes.
Israel has not said whether it will allow voting in east Jerusalem but has expressed concern about Hamas' growing strength. Israel and Western countries view Hamas as a terrorist group and would likely boycott any Palestinian government that includes it.
Instead, it called for the leadership to explore ways of "forcing the elections in Jerusalem without the permission of or coordination with the occupation."
The responsibility for any such decision "will rest with those who take it in response to the veto of the occupation," it said.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally and views the entire city as its capital, barring the Palestinian Authority from operating there. The Palestinians consider east Jerusalem their capital.
According to interim peace agreements reached in the 1990s—which were rejected by Hamas—some 6,000 Palestinians in east Jerusalem submit their ballots through Israeli post offices. The other 150,000 can vote with or without Israel's permission.
The dispute has taken on greater import since the start of the holy month of Ramadan, as Muslim worshippers have clashed with Israeli police over restrictions on gatherings.
Abbas is expected to make a final decision following a meeting with leaders of Hamas and other factions late Thursday.
The 85-year-old Abbas and his inner circle of Fatah figures, now in their 60s and 70s, have dominated the Palestinian Authority for nearly two decades. They have failed to advance Palestinian hopes for statehood, heal a 13-year internal rift with Hamas, lift the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza or empower a new generation of leaders.
The last elections, held in 2006, saw Hamas win a landslide victory after campaigning as a scrappy underdog untainted by corruption. That sparked an internal crisis culminating in Hamas' seizure of Gaza the following year, which confined Abbas' authority to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Hamas' popularity has fallen in the years since, as conditions in Gaza have steadily deteriorated. But it has remained unified and disciplined even as Fatah has split into three rival parliamentary lists.
Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist and has fought three wars with it since seizing control of Gaza. It has also carried out scores of attacks over the last three decades that have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians.
